This week, the cryptocurrency market has corrected downwards but is currently trying to regain its position: BTC is trading around 40000.00 (–4.4%), ETH is at 2210.00 (–10.6%), USDT is around 1.0005 ( 0.07%), BNB – near 294.0 (–7.5%), and SOL – around 87.00 (–6.1%). The total market capitalization decreased to 1.56T dollars, and the share of BTC on it increased to 50.4%.

The sector remains under pressure from two main factors – disappointment with the moderate reaction of institutional investors to the launch of a Bitcoin ETF and fears of postponing of the change in US monetary policy to the second half of the year. Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved eleven applications for the creation of exchange-traded funds based on the first cryptocurrency but the volume of trading in new instruments was initially not as significant as expected. Moreover, an outflow of investments has now been recorded, amounting to 224.6M dollars: thus, according to estimates by Bloomberg analysts, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF alone lost 429.0M dollars. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshine believes that out of eleven projects, only two or three will be able to contribute to expanding the audience of the crypto market, and the rest will fail, while the famous crypto skeptic Peter Schiff predicted a further drop in the value of digital assets as soon as the initial demand for ETFs decreases even more.

Another negative factor for the cryptocurrency market remains the uncertainty surrounding the future monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve: it was previously believed that the regulator would begin a cycle of interest rate cuts in March but now it is expected no earlier than the middle of the year since inflation in the country is increasing again and the economy remains stable. Thus, the US currency will continue to receive support against major alternative assets, including digital ones.

The negative dynamics of the ETH token are likely due to the rhetoric of the SEC: over the past few days, officials have postponed decisions on two applications to launch Ethereum-based spot ETFs from Fidelity Investments and BlackRock. Experts note that the most likely date for approval of new projects may be May 23, when the deadline for processing the application of the VanEck investment group finally expires: according to Bloomberg analysts, their launch will become possible only if the SEC recognizes that the ETH token is not a security but the monetary authorities are not ready for it yet.

Next week, the quotes of leading cryptocurrencies may continue to decline or begin to consolidate.